Following TUF 12 Finale win, Bonnar has no hard feelings for Mazzagatti

LAS VEGAS – Referee Steve Mazzagatti might not be on his Christmas list, but Stephan Bonnar (13-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) is still thankful for a decision win over Igor Pokrajac (22-8 MMA, 1-3 UFC). For once, he doesn’t have to go to the hospital.

After years of slugging it out time after time inside the octagon, Bonnar pulled off a nice head fake by promising a slugfest and delivering domination on the mat this past Saturday in the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale.

Now he can go to his next broadcasting gig without a fresh coat of eyeshadow.

“It was just the right time to do it,” Bonnar told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following the event. “Everyone expected me to be the same old toe-to-toe Bonnar, including Igor. Even in his interviews, he was looking forward to a toe-to-toe brawl. That was the perfect time to pull a little fast one, a little tomfoolery on everyone.”

Pokrajac certainly wanted a dogfight and charged forward at every opportunity. But Bonnar succeeded in getting the fight down and keeping it there.

“After the second round, I was like, ‘I know I’m ahead,'” he said. “Why just go toe-to-toe and take chances and risk being all ugly for that WEC show next week?'”

The veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ now enjoys back-to-back wins inside the octagon after a three-fight skid that had many calling for his pink slip.

His aggressive style has also endeared him to many fans, though Bonnar admits he’s made himself predictable to opponents, and that virtually guarantees new scars every time he competes. Plus, it’s not great for his winning percentage, even though UFC president Dana White considers him a permanent part of the company for the bloody opus that was his fight against Forrest Griffin in The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale.

“More than anything, I think [the performance] lets opponents know they have to be on their toes,” Bonnar said. “They can’t just expect a one-dimensional slugfest. It kind of opens up other options and keeps them thinking.”

He may have one small scar from this past Saturday’s fight: a cut on his head from several illegal knees he took in the second round while he was smothering Pokrajac in side mount.

Had Bonnar been sitting in the broadcasting booth instead of fighting, he would have also seen several illegal blows he delivered to the back of Pokrajac’s head as he punched away from top position in the final seconds of the bout.

Both sequences drew the attention of Mazzagatti, who deducted a point from each fighter for the infractions, though Bonnar feels the referee wasn’t on the ball when the illegal knees came.

“I had to tell him,” he said. “[Pokrajac] hit me with like three or four of them. Finally, I was like, ‘Steve, that’s four.’ I didn’t even care, really, because I didn’t want to lose my position.

“I felt myself bleeding, and then I said something. I was like, ‘Come on, Steve. I’m bleeding because those were illegal.’ Then I made sure and tell him I was alright, though, because I didn’t want him standing us up because I had sidemount on him. It sucks when you have to ref your own fight.”

When Mazzagatti stopped the action in the third round and prompted a hail of boos from the crowd at the Palms’ Pearl Concert Theater, Bonnar again felt like he may have gotten a bogus call, though the televised replay showed otherwise.

“I was a little surprised by that,” he said. “I had side control, and I couldn’t really see his face. I felt like I was hitting his face, and I felt like he turned the back of his head toward my fist while I was punching.”

Despite the hiccups, he holds no grudge against the referee. He’s healthy, other than a need to fight inside a cage for money.

“I went out there and showed that I can take people out, and I’m not so one-dimensional,” Bonnar said. “I got another good win, and I don’t have to spend the night in the hospital. I don’t look like Frankenstein. Now Christmas is coming up, and I can get fat.”

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